Logging-conveyer.



T. F. WALL.

LOGGING CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3 1915.

Patented May 2, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

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T. F. WALL.

LOGGING CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1915.

I Patented May 2,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

y M f [LT/torna o THE coLUMBm PLANOGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D. c

T. F. WALL.

' LOGGING CONVEYER. AEPLICATION FILED MAY 3. 1915..

Patented May 2, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH $20., WASHINGTON, D. c

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THEODORE F. WALL, F WASHOUGAL, WASHINGTON.

LOGGING-GONVEYEB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

Application filed May 3, 1915. Serial No. 25,579.

To all whom it may concern comparatively Be. it known that I, THEODOREF. WALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washougal, in thecounty of Clarke and State of Washington, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Logging- Conveyers; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to a logging conveyer.

The object of the present invention isto improve the construction oflogging conveyers and to provide a simple, practical, and inexpensivelog conveyer adapted to obviate the expense of building railroads inmountainous districts, over canyons and the like and capable of enablingrelatively heavy loads of logs to be easily and rapidly handled.

A further object ofthe invention is to provide a log conveyor of thischaracter having a cable track and equipped with means for supporting atregular intervals whereby a cable track of: any desired length may beemployed without liability of the cable being subjected to undue strain.

. Another object of the invention is to provide a logging conveyorprovided with a carrier adapted to pass rapidly through hangersorsupporting means to provide a support for the cable hangers. 7

With these and other-objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointedoutin the claims hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may beresorted towithout departing from at all times at such the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a logging conveyorconstructed in accordance'with this invention, Fig. 2 is an enlargedside elevation of one of the hangers, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectionalView of the same, Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View ofone of thehangers, Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail horizontal sectional view througha portion of the hanger illustrating the manner of 'mounting theoscillatory subjected to a heavy load.

shaft, Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of struction of one of thecatches of the carrier,

Fig. 9 is an elevation of the same, F ig. 10 is a detail sectional viewshowing the flared end of the hanger and the tapered casing of thecarrier.

Like numerals ofreference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings. 7

In the-accompanying drawings in which is illustrated the preferredembodiment of the invention, 1 designates an elevated track'cablesuitably secured at its ends to the supports which are preferably in theform of trees 2 but any other suitable means may ofcour'se be employed.

.In practice, the trees will be braced by anchoring or guide cables orropes 3 which may be conveniently secured to stumps of trees. In orderto enable a track cable of any desired length to be employed it isdesigned to be supported at suitable intervals by hangers 4 consistingof a body portion or casing constructed of boiler iron or othersuitablematerial and composed of spaced vertical sides and a connectingtop and connected by transverse bolts 7 or other suitable fasteningdevices to which are socured the lower ends of inclined ropes or cables8. The ropes or cables 8 extend upwardly from the terminal portionsofthe hanger and are suitably secured at their upper ends to oppositelyinclined poles 9. The poles 9 which may consist of logs are suitablyconnected at their upper ends and are located at opposite sides of thetrack cable, sufiicient space being provided between the supporting polesides to form a pasage way for the load 10 and carriers 11. The sides ofthe hanger which have flared terminal portions 12 to. prevent thecarriers from catching on the sides of the hanger are reinforced byexterior approximately U-shaped angle bars 13 secured to the hanger atspaced points and adapted to prevent the sides of the hanger fromspreading when interiorly arranged longitudinally disposed rails 14 areThe rails which are constructed of angle bars or other suitlid willautomatically; return the shaft to its [central positlon. The hanger isprovided at able material consist of central horizontal portlons andinclined termmalportlons 10.

The cable is supported at spaced points by,

transverse shafts 16 arranged below the horizontal portions of the rails14 and provided intermediate of their ends with vertical journals 17mounted in upper and lower journal boxes or bearings 18 and adapted topermit the shafts 16 to swing hori- Zontally to permit the carriers topass them. The space or interval between the shafts 1.6 is sufficient toenable a carrier to pass one of the shafts and the latter to return toits supporting position before the. other shaft is engaged by thecarrier so that the cable will have at least one support within eachhanger at all times. The transverse shafts 16 which are provided withanti-friction sleeves 19 of steel or other suitable material extendthrough'openings 20 and 21 of the sides of the hanger which support theshafts intheir normal transverse position. The sleeves which serveassheaves are adapted to pre- Vent the cable and the shaft from beingcut when the cable is subjected to a. heavy load and is drawn across'theshaft incident to the change of position of tlieload in, travelingalongthe track cable.

Each of theshafts 16 is provided at its pivoted: end with an outwardextension, or arm 22 to which is connected a pair of outwardlyconverging springs 23secured at their outer terminals f to brackets 2 Land adapted to maintain the shafts 16 'yieldably in a central position.

The pivotal and yieldable mounting of the shaft 16- enables the latter,to be swung in either direction by the carrier and the springs theopposite side from that at which the shafts. 16 are pivoted withsprings25 riveted or otherwise secured to the side of the hanger belowthe-slo-tsat a point intermediate of the ends thereof andtaperedupwardly as shown. The springs are arranged in the path of the free endsof the'shafts l6 and they form cushions andassist in limiting themovement of the shafts after'the same have been actuated by a carrierpassingthrough the hanger. These springs 25 facilitate the return of theshafts 16 to their normal position.

Each of the carriers, a pair being necessaryfor supporting a load oflegs, as clearly illustrated in' Fig. 1 of the drawings, is

preferablyconstructed of boiler metal and is composed of spaced sidesand a connecting top portion. The carrier isprovided at the top with atransverse disposed axle or spindle 26 suitably secured at its centertoithe carrier andextending laterally from opposite sldes of the saidtop portion and having mounted on its journals a pair of wheels 27 whichare adapted to run on the track 11 while the carrier is passing throughthe hanger. The carrier is equipped with upper and lower interiorlyarranged grooved wheels or pulleys 27 and 28 mounted on tran verseshafts and 30 suitably secured to the sides of the carrier.

The upper wheel 27 normally runs upon the track cable and supports thehanger therefrom but when the carrier is passing through one of thehangers the wheels 97 of the axle 26 ride up the inclines of the t 'acl:bars 1i and support the cable through the medium of the lower roller orwheel 28 which is normally arranged below and in contact with the trackcable 1. This operation lifts the cable from the transverse shaft 16 andthe cable is out of contact with the same when the said shaft is swunghorizontally by the carrier and after the carrier passes the shaft thelatter returns to its normal position before the cable again rests uponits antifriction sleeve 0r sheave.

In practice the track will. be arranged to lift the cable approximatelythree inches but this distance may be Varied to suit requirements.

The carriers 11 are connected with the load 10 by branches 31 and 32 ofa main c011- sheave or pulley 34 adjacent to one end of the track cableand from that point to an engine, not shown. The return rope or cablewhich is connected with the carrier extends to aguide pulley or sheave36 at the other end of the track cable, from there to an engine locatedat that end of the logging conyeyer, but where the track cable isrelatively short, the return rope or cable may be extendedto andconnected with the engine for winding the main conveyor cable 33. Eachof the branches 31 and 32 passes over a guide sheave or pulley 37mounted in the carrier at the lower portion thereof on a transyerseshaft 38 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings. The branch ofthe cable extends downwardly from the guide pulley 3'i'to. a pulley 39of a metallic block 40 having a hook 411 which is adapted to engage achain 42 or other suitable tie for curing the logs together to form aload. The branch. of the cable is then extended upwardly from the pulley39 and is secured at 43 to the carrier. The branch cables and thepulleys or sheaves 37 and 39 enable the load 10 to be elevated. and whenthe cable 33 is pulled upon the load is elevated to the positionillustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing and is locked in such elevatedposition of and having beveled edges and adapted to beforced outwardlyby projecting flanges 47 locatedat the outer faces of the sides of theblock 40 and adapted to rest upon the engaging portions 46 of thecatches. The catches consist of straight bars or body portions and theirlower arms are normally urged inwardly by springs 48 disposed on pins orbolts 49 and engaging the catches at the outer faces thereof. The pinsor bolts 49 which are suitably secured to the carrier extend outwardlythrough slots 50 in the catches and are interposed between the same andthe heads of the bolts or pins 49. Any other suitable arrangement ofsprings however, may be employed for moving the engaging portions of thecatches inwardly. The upper arms of the catches are connected by shortupwardly converging lines 51 with a short arm 52 of a lever 53 which ispivotally mounted on a transverse pin or bolt 54. The short lines orconnections 51 extend through slots 55 in the sides of the carrier andwhen it is desired to lower the load to the ground, the outer end 56 ofthe lever is pulled downwardly, which may be effected by any suitablemeans. When the outer end of the lever is drawn downwardly the upperarms of the catches are swung inwardly through the slots or openings 55and the engaging lower portions 46 of-the catches are withdrawn frombeneath the flanges 47 of the block 40. When the catches are withdrawnfrom beneath the flanges 47 the load may be lowered to the ground. Anyother suitable means may of course be employed for locking the blocks ofthe carrier in an elevated position and for releasing the same.

In practice the carriers will be equipped with a casing 57 constructedof. sheet metal or other suitable material and having integral outwardlyconverging portions 58 as clearly shown in Fig. 10 to enable thecarriers to readily enter and pass through the hangers without catchingon the same.

The logs constituting the load 10 are bound together by means of thechains 42 which are located adjacent to the ends of the logs. Thecarriers are adapted to be readily engaged with the chains and the loadmay be quickly elevated and secured to the spaced carriers. After theload is locked to the carriers by the catches thereof, the cable may bereadily operated without liability of disengaging the blocks from thecatches. The logging conveyer will enable a relatively large number oflogs to be rapidly carried from one point to another and when loggingoperations are completed at one place or section the logging conveyermay be readily transferred to another section.

What is claimed is 1. A conveyer of the class described including atrack cable, a hanger receiving the cable and provided with atransversely disposed supporting device, said supporting device beingpivotally mounted and adapt ed to be swung aside by a carrier, and meansfor automatically returning the said device to its supporting position.

2. A conveyer of the class described including a track cable, a hangerreceiving the cable and provided with a pivotally mounted transverselydisposed shaft extending beneath and supporting the cable and adapted tobe swung aside by a carrier, and means for returning the shaft to itssupporting position automatically.

3. A conveyer of the class described including a track cable, a hangerreceivingthe cable and provided with a pivotally mounted transverselydisposed shaft extending beneath and supporting the cable and adapted tobe swung aside by a carrier, and springs located at opposite sides ofthe shaft and connected with the same for automatically returning thesame to its supporting position.

4. A conveyer of the class described including a track cable, a hangerreceiving the cable and provided with a pivotally mounted transverselydisposed shaft extending beneath and supporting the cable and adapted tobe swung aside by a carrier, and

opposite cushions arranged to limit the movement of the shaft and assistin the return of the same to the supporting position thereof.

5. A conveyer of the class described including a track cable, a hangerreceiving the cable and having a movably mounted device located withinthe hanger and arranged to normally support the cable, a track carriedby the hanger and a carrier arranged to run on and be supported by thetrack and adapted to move'the said device from beneath the cable, saiddevice being normally located in the path of the carrier.

6. A conveyer of the class described including a track cable, a hangerreceiving the cable, a movably mounted supporting device arranged withinthe hanger and forming a support for the cable, said device beingadapted to be moved from beneath the cable by a carrier, and a trackarranged to support the carrier and having an inclined portion forelevating the carrier to relieve the said supporting device of pressure.

7 A conveyer of the class described including a track cable, a hangerreceiving the cable, and provided with movably mounted means forsupporting the same, said sup porting means being adapted to be movedfrom beneath the cable by a carrier, and a track arranged within thehanger for supporting the carrier, said track having oppositely inclinedportions adapted to elevate the carrier. V A

8.'A conveyer of the class described including a track cable, a hangerreceiving the track cable and having spaced pivotally mounted shaftsextending beneath the cable, "anti-friction devices mounted on theshafts for supporting the cable, tracks located within the hanger atopposite sides thereof and having inclined portions, and a carrierprovided with exterior wheels arranged to run on the tracks, saidcarrier being also provided with interiorly arranged upper and lowerwheels located above and below the cable, the upper interiorly arrangedwheel being adapted to run on the cable and, the lower interiorlvarranged wheel being adapted to lift the cable.

THEODORE F. WALL.

Witnesses THos. S. KEEP, L. R. GERNMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

" Washington, D. G.

